Rotary Cutter Is a rotory mower the same as a bush hog?

[LD1]

Sheetrock

Steve

Thats a good one....

Quickcrete

 

[prichard]

Wire-nut

 

[jeff9366]

UNSUBSCRIBE.

 

[kirkawilson]

You might consider a drum mower for shipping, weight and cost considerations. Galfre Compact Drum Mower Assembly Tutorial - YouTube

 

[biffo]

It might help to tell us what tractor you have. You said a 35HP kubota.....but your avatar lists a 16hp B7100.

AS to the term, for all-intents-and-purposes, rotary cutter and bushhog are one in the same. While technically though....bushhog is the brand, and rotary cutter is what it is.

No different than calling
and adjustable wrench a crescent wrench
slip joint pliers being called channelocks
locking pliers being called vice grips
hex keys being called allen wrenches
etc etc.

Regarding light vs medium vs heavy duty.....

They will all clip pasture grass well. Meduim and heavy duty cutters are made with bigger heavier blades and gearboxes, and thicker metal. So they will stand up to occasionally hitting a rock, or mowing over some tree saplings alot better. But they cost more....

The horsepower required to run the cutter dont care weather its a heavy duty cutter with thicker metal, or a light cutter. What you are cutting and how fast you go is gonna determine the HP required.

Reason why I ask what tractor you have, is because you are asking about a pretty broad range of cutters. And in a pretty broad range of tractor sizes just saying a 35HP kubota. A light 5' cutter can be down a round 450-500 pounds. And a heavy 6' can go north of 1400 pounds. And Your could be a 2200# 2wd machine, or you could have a 3400# 4wd machine with loader.

A medium duty ~900-1000# cutter on the lighter end of the 35hp tractors isnt gonna work well without a front loader, or front weights. Where as it would be handled just find on the heavy end of kubotas 35hp tractors.

Of course, the tractor model. The tractor is a fairly rare here Kubota STA 35 with an LA402ST loader. I do have a Kubota (Kverneland FM120/ 4 ft) flail, but having used it for around 5 or 6 years my instinct is it isn't robust enough for the 2 uncut fields. Must also say that the 2 fields had hay taken from it once each year from 10 years ago up until 3 years ago, and the surface condition is quite poor, I don't think it has been managed for maybe 20 years before we arrived (10 years ago). Of course a more heavy duty flail would perhaps be a good idea but I would be buying just for these 2 small fields as a wider flail would give problems mowing elsewhere between young trees we have planted, we have a lot of them.
It now appears as though shipping from the USA to Europe is not practical for a single unit, that's a shame as I like the idea of buying US rotary.

 

[biffo]

It would be silly to ship a rotary mower from the US to Europe. European equivalent mowers are flail mowers which can cut any grass and small brush that a rotary mower can cut. Yes, a heavy duty bush hog on a powerful tractor will cut bigger trees and tolerate hitting rocks a bit better but for a three year overgrown pasture a flail mower will do a much better job. Rotary mowers are not popular in Europe because there is little land that is abandoned for decades. Three years between mowings does not require a bush hog or slasher to clear.

There are multiple flail mower manufacturers in Europe, oddly most are in northern Italy, and we actually import a good percentage of the flail mowers sold here in the US from Italy. Caroni is one company. I own a Caroni TM1900 flail that is used for exactly the type of mowing the OP described. Great machine. Much safer than a rotary mower and much better cut. Flail mowers come in both finish and rough cut versions. For mowing pastures you'd want a rough cut type. Finish flails are for lawns, golf courses and athletic fields

Thanks for your input, what's the basic difference between a finish and a rough cut flail, is it only the knives/blades? I mentioned in my previous post re small flail vs a rotary, was under the impression that some of the rotaries are capable of clearing almost anything.

 

[LD1]

What is the base weight of that tractor? 4wd? And what's the 3ph capacity?

 

[IslandTractor]

Thanks for your input, what's the basic difference between a finish and a rough cut flail, is it only the knives/blades? I mentioned in my previous post re small flail vs a rotary, was under the impression that some of the rotaries are capable of clearing almost anything.

Basically, finish knives are finer, longer and more densely mounted on a rotor. Finish rotors about six feet in length might have 50 or 60 mounting stations with two knives per station. Most commonly the finish knives are mounted directly to the rotor station with a bolt and can swing freely only forwards and backwards. Rough cut knives are heavier, shorter and there are fewer of them on a rotor. A six foot rough cut rotor might have only 28-30 mounting stations. The rough cut knives are typically mounted in pairs on a clevis and the clevis is then attached to the rotor station. The clevis allows the knives to move left and right as well as forwards and backwards when the knife hits an object.

You might find the flailmaster.com catalog (download the pdf from their website) more useful than my verbal description. You'll see that there are exceptions to the descriptions I gave and lots of variation.

You can also look at the AgriSupply.com website and check out the Caroni flail mowers. Their smaller flails are finish mowers and the TM1900 is a rough cut. The Caroni website also shows the differences.

I own both a Caroni rough cut and a Woods Brushbull (bush hog). Both are medium duty. The Caroni gives a much cleaner cut and mulches the grass and brush. The Brushbull basically just tears things up rather than cutting. It is also generally tougher and can take out bigger brush. If I run over a bush with the Brushbull there will be lots of debris in the form of 2-6 inch pieces of the bush left on the ground. If I run over the same size bush with the flail there is only mulch on the ground. Both handle tall grass easily. If the grass is lush you'll need to slow down a bit with either one.